The Friendship Files: Off Camera
by LanieSullivan
Summary: A two-part installment in this series to dive a bit more into the relationship between Francine and Amanda as they learn more about one another and that what you see is not always what you get.
1. The Unhappy Hooker

Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. The plot is mine, but not the characters. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only. No infringement is intended.

Author's Note: This is my first two-chapter installment of this series, primarily because I couldn't decide which episode I wanted to do more, but I was convinced by a friend to do both. So thank you, Khell for the encouragement and thank you also to Janet for the outstanding beta job.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Why do I keep putting up with this," Francine grumbled as she sat at her desk in the bullpen reliving her time with Lee, Amanda...and Ernie. She was fuming over the crack he'd made when she'd been left alone with him after he'd ID'd Maria Von Klausen.

 _"Thanks, Ernie," she said as she opened the door to the conference room and then added, "Lee's right. That is a special skill you have."_

 _"No, thank you. I hear you used your own special skills to gather enough information to get us this far," he teased._

 _"Well, not all of us spend our whole work day holed up with pictures and videos. Some of us like to get out and stretch our legs a bit," she retorted in an affronted tone and stormed out._

 _As she walked toward her desk, she heard Fred making a lewd comment about "stretching her legs" being the wrong phrase. She instantly snapped, "If you don't want broken legs, I'd suggest you cool it with that kind of talk," and flounced to her desk._

Now, here she was, working on her report from the night before while shooting daggers at anyone who so much as looked in her direction. She took out her frustrations on her keyboard, typing furiously until a tentative, "Francine?" caught her attention and caused her to look up again.

"What!" she snapped as she saw Amanda cautiously approaching her.

"Maybe this is a bad time," Amanda apologetically stated as she began to back away. She'd learned in her three years at The Agency not to mess with Francine when she was in a foul mood.

Letting out a sigh, Francine shook her head and replied, "No, Amanda, it's fine. Sorry...I'm just a little...on edge." That was certainly an understatement. She was on the edge of her patience with a few of her co-workers and ready to take matters into her own hands.

Amanda nodded. "Yeah...I...um...I heard. You know, that wasn't very nice of Fred."

"Fred's not nice. Shocker," the blonde parried in mock horror.

"Okay, okay. I just...I wanted to return these." She indicated the surveillance photos in her hand. "You know...to go in the file."

"Oh...right." Francine reached for them and unceremoniously dropped them onto her desk. She then turned back to her computer and was about to begin typing again when she realized that Amanda was still there...and staring at her. "What? Was there something else?"

"No, no, nothing else." Amanda held up her hands in surrender and began to back away again, but seeing the disturbed look on the other woman's face, she thought better of it. After all, it wasn't as if she were the one Francine was really upset with. "Well, yes. Yes, there is, but not about the case." She now wore a look of steely resolve, determined to help Francine if she could. "What I really wanted was to ask if you were okay."

Francine looked at her sideways, scrutinizing her and trying to figure out if she were being sincere. So few people were. She wanted to ask, but wasn't yet sure if she could fully trust Amanda so instead, she tapped the stack of photos and questioned, "So, these were just an excuse to come over here?"

Amanda nodded guiltily. "Yeah, they were. I know it's none of my business, but you just seemed...I don't know...a little upset."

"Upset?" She shook her head. "No, Amanda, I'm not upset." She glowered in Fred's direction. "I'm pissed off!" she snarled loudly enough to make sure the whole of the bullpen heard her.

"I can understand why," Amanda responded consolingly.

"I highly doubt that," Francine snorted.

"You know what? Forget I said anything," she barked back at her as she turned on her heel. "I was only trying to help, but I forgot you're too good to need anything from anyone." She was about to make her way out of the bullpen when she was stopped by Francine's voice.

"Amanda, wait..." When the other woman turned back to face her again, she took a deep breath and said, "I'm sorry. It's not you. I know you're just trying to be your normal helpful self. It's not your fault that I've got this image as the happy hooker that won't go away and that _some_..." she glared at Fred again. "...people around here can't seem to separate the cover from the agent."

"Gee, that's too bad."

"Too bad?" She turned back to Amanda questioningly. "Too bad? Well, let me ask you this? How do you feel about the fact that no one around here can seem to separate you from Lee? Do you even know that they call you 'Mrs. Scarecrow' behind your back? They even make jokes about how many times you've cleaned up that toxic waste dump that Lee calls an apartment, calling you The Happy Homemaker." Upon seeing Amanda furrowed brow, she hastily shut up, kicking herself for saying anything at all because it occurred to her that maybe Amanda _didn't_ know.

"Yes, Francine, I know." She shrugged. "I just don't let it bother me...and you shouldn't either. That's what I always tell my boys when they get into squabbles with their classmates...that name-calling is just...childish. You know, sticks and stones may-"

Francine interrupted with, "So help me, Amanda if you finish that, I'm going to start looking for some sticks and stones to throw at you."

"Hey, I'm on your side, remember? And I know...I know from our talk in the freezer a while back that you don't care if anyone's on your side or not, but I am and I think the things people say about you around here are just...awful."

"Don't you mean, awful true?"

"No, Francine, I don't," Amanda replied honestly. "I mean just plain awful, just like the stuff they say about me."

"I thought you didn't let it bother you," Francine reminded her.

"Okay, maybe it bothers me a little," she admitted. "It is a bit hurtful to have people stereotype you, especially as a woman because these days even with as far as we've come, it still seems like we fall into just a couple of categories...the homemaker type...or the career woman type...or the-" She flushed slightly as she thought of the reason Francine was angry.

"The happy hooker type?" Francine supplied with an arched eyebrow.

"I guess you could put it that way, but here's the thing, I also think just like with the way people exaggerate stuff about Lee...or me...or Lee _and_ me...or Lee and...well...anybody...I think the stories about you are exaggerated too and I don't believe most of what I hear around here unless I hear it from the source."

Francine nodded and gave her a half smile. "Well, thank you for that."

"You're welcome." Amanda smiled back at her. "Anyway, the point I was making is that as women, we have to fight much harder than men do to be taken seriously."

"You're damn right we do. Especially in this business."

Amanda beamed at Francine's acknowledgement that while they may differ on a great many things, this was one thing they had in common. That gave her hope for the future of her tentative friendship with the seemingly prickly agent. "Maybe we could...you know, talk some more another time. I mean, I'd love to continue this, but tonight's opening night and I...I can't miss it."

"Opening night, is it?" Francine gave her a grin to remind her of the crack she'd made in the Q when she'd caught the brunette in a clinch with Lee. She still wondered if there was just flirting going on or if Amanda were seriously considering getting involved with Lee on a personal level.

Amanda rolled her eyes. "Not _that_ kind of opening night." She turned again, this time to leave the office, but couldn't help laughing as Francine got the last word in.

Amanda turned back for just a moment to see Francine grinning as she bawdily called after her. "Gee, that's too bad. Not _all_ of Lee's reputation is exaggerated."


	2. The Unhappy Homemaker

AN: The added piece to the scene in Billy's office comes from an unfilmed scene in the script, so I take no credit for writing it.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Francine in her usual mocking tone, jibed, "I must say it's a naughty little skeleton for the housewife of the year to have in her broom closet."

Amanda scowled at her. "I don't appreciate that, Francine. All I did during college was study hard and go on dates."

"Dates?" the other woman scoffed. "In college? By 1972, I was living in a utopian commune with three folk singers and half the Princeton Poly-Sci department."

"I wouldn't brag about that if I were you, Francine." She shook her head and huffed, "Would you just take my keys please?"

As the conversation turned to her limited security access, Amanda found herself growing even more irritated when Francine couldn't resist adding another joke at her expense, "Anyone can see you...missed the revolution." When Amanda shot her a "how dare you," look, Francine quickly added, "I meant that as a compliment."

Francine rolled her eyes as once again, Lee jumped to Amanda's defense with "Can we all just stop kicking the verbal ball around?" but she couldn't help noticing that Amanda looked just as annoyed with him for doing so as she did over her trying to lighten the mood with jokes.

After Amanda stormed out, she let out a sigh and sank down into one of the chairs opposite Billy's desk and muttered, "When will I ever learn?"

"Give her a chance to cool down," Billy suggested. "She'll come around."

She shook her head and replied, "If this isn't worked out, I may not have another chance." She rose from her seat and hurriedly made her way out the door to attempt to salvage whatever might be left of her burgeoning friendship with Amanda.

Amanda sat quietly fuming over Francine's comments as she listened to Lee droning on and on about suspensions being cleared up. She found herself becoming increasingly irritated with him as well...first for feeling the need to jump to her defense...Did he really think she needed that after all this time? Second for his attitude about her complacency. Finally, she snapped, "Yes, I'm going to just sit here. I've got a visitor's pass and that's all I can do is just sit here!"

Francine arrived at the door of the Q just in time to hear Amanda's outburst at Lee and mumbled, "On second thought," and was about to turn around when she heard Lee's pleading voice talking about how they might not be able to see each other. "I'll be damned." Was it possible that he was actually being sincere? She decided not to intrude any longer on what seemed to be turning into a private moment and trotted back the way she'd come. She had suspected ever since the undercover assignment at Marvelous Marvin's that there might be something happening between those two, but had no real confirmation of it. She supposed she'd just have to see how it played out.

A few days later, she became even more suspicious when she walked into the conference room to find Amanda holding on to Lee's tie and the pair sharing a mischievous look. She cleared her throat loudly and they quickly broke apart. "I...um..." Damn! Why did she always feel so awkward in these moments? "Billy...he asked me to come steal Amanda away so we can get her security levels back online in the computer system."

"Ah," Lee let out a groan of frustration. "So, I guess I'll just go check on the interrogation team...see if they've had any more success getting Williamson's contacts out of him. Might be helpful if we know exactly who he was planning to sell the HK-86 plans to." He hurriedly made his escape.

It was clear to Francine by the perturbed look on Amanda's face that she was just as annoyed by the interruption as Lee had been. "So...I...uh...I guess we should get started. I mean, the sooner we get started, the sooner we can get done and you can get back to...well, whatever it is you were doing."

Amanda folded her arms across her chest and inquired testily, "And just what is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Oh, come on, Amanda. I think you and I both know that I walked in on something between you and Lee that was a little more than work-related. In fact, it almost looked like you were..." Francine clamped her mouth shut. _No, it couldn't be._

"Like I was what, Francine?" Amanda prodded, her defensive posture unwavering.

"No...never mind. It couldn't be what I was thinking...could it?"

"Hmmmph!" Amanda snorted as she lowered her arms and marched out of the room with a snippy, "Let's just get this over with!" Why couldn't Francine ever see that there was more to her than just a housewife? She was still stewing over the jokes she'd made when this whole thing had begun.

Francine sighed and reluctantly followed Amanda back out into the bullpen. Summoning up her courage, she decided they had to end this stalemate. "You're right. We _should_ get this over with." She gave the brunette a pointed look. "Starting with me explaining what I meant."

"I'm listening." The contrite look on Francine's face told her that they were no longer talking about her computer clearance.

"You...uh...you just never stop surprising me." She glanced around the bullpen for a moment, then sat down in her chair and lowered her voice so no one else would hear. "When I walked into that room, it looked like..." When she looked back at Amanda's expectant face, she found her nerve faltering. She took a deep breath and plunged on anyway. "Well, it looked like you were making a pass at Lee instead of the other way around."

"And why should that surprise you?" Amanda questioned, but before Francine could answer, she did so herself. "Oh, wait, I know. Because I'm just the housewife of the year and I missed the revolution."

"Is that what's got you so steamed at me?"

"Shouldn't I be?"

"No."

"No? Why not?"

"Because I meant both of those things as compliments to you."

Amanda snorted with laughter. "Well, if that's a compliment, I'd certainly hate to hear an insult!"

"Okay, I don't get it. What do you find so insulting about it? The housewife of the year thing was meant as a compliment because obviously you're good at all those household-y things."

"I still don't see how that's supposed to be such a great compliment," Amanda argued.

Francine saw that she was going to have to just bite the bullet. "Because those are the things that I stink at...like cooking for example. I wish I had half your skill for it. I mean, look at what happened the one time I tried to learn to cook. I know so little about it that I actually believed Mrs. Welch when she told me that it was the cooking sherry making me feel woozy."

"Okay." Amanda nodded, deciding that she could accept that. After all, she did know that Francine had given up on trying to learn to cook after that bad experience. "Well, you know, I am a bit jealous of your skills too. I mean, you've been at this job for years and you know how to handle yourself."

"Well, so do you," Francine countered. "I know that I didn't always give you credit when you first started, but you've more than proven yourself."

"Have I? Look at what just happened. This was the first time ever that I tried something on my own without Lee looking over my shoulder supervising me and it all blew up in my face. I had no clue that the man I was working so closely with on this project was a traitor to this country and I had to have Lee bail me out."

"Now, Amanda, that's not true. You knew something wasn't right with the security cameras and it's your household skills that put you onto the floor wax and that's what solved the whole thing. That's where your housewife-y skills really came in handy." She pointed to herself dramatically and continued, "I'm such a moron when it comes to those things, I would never have made that connection, so you see, it's even more of a compliment to you."

Amanda couldn't help laughing at that. "Okay, I see your point, but what about the crack about missing the revolution?"

"Also meant as a compliment, which if you recall, I told you that day."

"And how exactly is that supposed to be complimentary to suggest that I missed out on the sexual revolution. I did tell you that I went on dates in college...and a lot of them at that...and not always with the same guy. I didn't start getting serious about Joe and 1971."

"Ohhhh..." Realization finally hit Francine. "Amanda, I didn't mean the sexual revolution...I meant the revolution against the war...you know, the protesting, the bomb-throwing...the riots...all that stuff."

"Oh...sorry," was Amanda's sheepish reply when it struck her that she'd misjudged Francine's comments.

"Though now that you mention it, you don't seem...well, _that_ type either."

Amanda sighed and replied sarcastically, "Is that supposed to be another _compliment_?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, it is. Clearly, you don't have the reputation that I do around here."

"No, it's worse. I'm just the goody-two-shoes who never does anything exciting and always has to have Lee around to stand up for me."

"Is that what's really bugging you?" Francine's brows shot up questioningly.

"Yes. I'm tired of people around here seeing me as nothing more than the good little housewife. I'm also a woman."

"Of course you are, but let me tell you, I've got it much worse than you do with my rep..."

"Not the happy hooker thing again," Amanda groaned.

"Yes, that again. You don't know how hard it is to shake a reputation like that. You're much more likely to change your image than I am. All it would take would be one act that would shock the pants off the Agency paparazzi to change yours. There's no way that I could ever get people to change their opinion of me, no matter how many goody-goody things I would do. Kinda like Lee, he's got such a rep as a player, that no one would ever believe he'd get serious about any one woman." She gave Amanda a warning look.

"Well, that's all the more reason people shouldn't be judged by outward appearances," Amanda rose to the challenge. She knew that she couldn't tell Francine that she and Lee were engaged, but wanted to make it clear that she didn't believe all of the highly-exaggerated rumors either. She chuckled a little and asked, "So, did you really live in a commune?"

"Yup," the blonde confirmed. "Let's get started on your security profile and I'll tell you all about it."


End file.
